The Secret Sin

 Today we will be in Jeremiah chapter 18.

Let me set the scene.  Israel (God’s chosen people) have split themselves into two kingdoms.  Israel and Judah. Both of them have had their own kings and those kings have led the people away from God.  In fact, they have been worshiping false gods and even sacrificing their children to these gods.  They have been living sin for years and God is tired of it.

Enter Jeremiah.  Jeremiah was a prophet of God, and he never, not once in all his time of preaching saw one person turn from the sin they were doing and turn to God.  In the world today he would be looked at as a failure, but God sees him as a success because he obeyed. 

Ok now for our text.  Jeremiah 18 verse 1. 

1. The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

 2. Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.

Ok so God wakes Jeremiah up one day (ok so I don’t really know if he wakes him up or not.  Let’s just roll with it. Ok? Ok.) and tells him to go to the potter’s house and then he will tell him more. So Jeremiah goes downtown and walks around the market and watches the potter work.  I don't know how long he had to watch the potter, the Bible doesn't say. I know I could watch that pottery wheel all day.

Now I have tried to do the clay on the wheel thing before.  Let me just tell you it is not as easy as it looks. One false move, one push too hard and you hear Whump, Whump, Whump as the clay spins around folded in half.

Let’s continue reading.

3. Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.

4. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

So the potter was making a vase or pot and it did just like I did. One false move, one push too hard and Whump, Whump, Whump. But the potter is very experienced. He just squishes the clay back together and starts again.  This time he makes the clay into a beautiful vase. 

5. Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

6. O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

God is saying, "Just like that potter remade the vase, I can do the same thing with you. The clay is in the potter's hand, and you are in mine."  He was talking to Israel but the same thing applies to us today.  


Now I hear what you are saying. "But Jeff, God can't use me."


Really? Let me tell you a little true story.

Brenda was almost halfway to the top of the tremendous granite cliff. She was standing on a ledge where she was taking a breather during this, her first rock climb. As she rested there, the safety rope snapped against her eye and knocked out her contact lens. "Great", she thought. "Here I am on a rock ledge, hundreds of feet from the bottom and hundreds of feet to the top of this cliff, and now my eyesight is blurry."

She looked and looked, hoping that somehow it had landed on the ledge. But it just wasn't there.

She felt the panic rising in her, so she began praying. She prayed for calm, and she prayed that she could find her contact lens. When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but it was not to be found. Although she was calm now that she was at the top, she was saddened because she could not clearly see across the range of mountains. She thought of the bible verse "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth."

She thought, "Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is. Please help me."

Later, when they had hiked down the trail to the bottom of the cliff they met another party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff. One of them shouted out, "Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens?"

Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly across a twig on the face of the rock, carrying it!

The story doesn't end there. Brenda's father is a cartoonist. When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the contact lens, he drew a cartoon of an ant lugging that contact lens with the caption, "Lord, I don't know why You want me to carry this thing. I can't eat it, and it's awfully heavy. But if this is what You want me to do, I'll carry it for You."

If God can use an ant.  He can use you too.  

I hear what you are saying. "But Jeff, you don't know what I have done." 

Your right.  I don't. But I have a secret to tell you.  It doesn't matter!

He used the pagan king of Babylon, who worshiped false gods.  Paul was a murderer, Matthew was a cheat, Jacob was a deceiver, Moses and Gideon were both cowards. He used each of them.  Why? Because they were willing.

"But Jeff, I have sin in my life.  God won't want to use me."

Ok I have a question for you.

"Have you ever tried to do something with your hands full?"

Of course you have.  


I was over at a friend's house recently. They have four kids. The youngest is about six to eight months old.  He can sit up, but can't crawl yet.  (Great age.  You can sit them somewhere and they will stay there.) While I was there I noticed that my friend's wife tried to cook supper while holding the baby.  I mean cutting up veggies, stirring things, measuring stuff etc.  I offered to hold the baby so she could use both hands.   

Also, when I am carrying in groceries I don't want to make more than one trip.  I will have my arms laden with bags and when I reach the house I realize that I need the key to open the door.  I don't believe in setting anything down, so I struggle with having to fish the keys out of my pocket with all the heavy bags.  I don't know if this is a guy thing or not.  My wife tends to think so.

I often build sets, props and things like that.  And at least once, every time I am working on a project, I realize that I am holding something in my hand that I don't need to be.  I will be trying to get a piece of plywood to fit exactly in the right spot and I start getting frustrated at the plywood because it won't cooperate with me. It is about that time that I notice that still I have the drill in my hand.  I sit the drill down and the plywood goes right into place.  

I say all of that to say this.  God can still use you with sin in your life. But sin hinders your work. What do I mean?


Imagine you are holding a large black rock in your hand.  That large black rock is sin.  You won't put the rock down for any reason, but you are still trying to work.  Can you imagine a secretary who has to type reports and things holding a large black rock in her hand all the time?  Or a painter who tries to paint while holding his paintbrush, a gallon of paint, and a large black rock?  A crane operator who only can use one hand because the other one is holding that black rock. That would be really dumb huh?

I have two kids.  Alex who is 5 and Layla who is 2.  They both still believe that they can hide something behind their backs and I won't know it is there.   We do this with God.  We hold on to our black sin rock and we take great pains to hide it from everyone else.  We even think we are hiding it from God.  Nope.  Just like a parent knows when their child is hiding something behind their backs, God knows about that secret sin that you are hiding.

He is standing there holding out his hand saying, 

"Here.  Let me have that.  I can make your life so much easier."  


What are you holding on to?  
Anger?
Lust?
Gossip?
Apathy? (Doing nothing or I don't care attitude)
Greed?
Lies?
Bitterness?
Faithless?

Let Jesus have that secret sin. Let him remold you like the potter did with the clay.  Let him remake you. You will be glad you did.